perished; perishing; perishes
1
: to become destroyed or ruined : cease to exist
… recollection of a past already long since perished.—
Philip Sherrard
guard against your mistakes or your attempts (perish the thought) to cheat—C. B. Davis
2
chiefly British
: deteriorate, spoil
Examples of perish in a Sentence
Two people perished in the fire.
The sailors perished at sea.
The civilization perished after 500 years.
Many ancient languages have perished over time.
The rubber will perish with age.
Recent Examples on the Web
They were doomed to perish in the fires of hell.
—Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026
Harold Cunningham/Getty Outside Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from Italy's Tuscany region, lit a candle for so many teens his own age who had perished.
—CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
Why, then, do so many people perish on the 10,000-foot peak?
—Outside, 8 Jan. 2026
One of those was a family member of Rory Sykes, who perished in the blaze.
—Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Perish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perish. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Kids Definition
perish
verb
per·ish
ˈper-ish 
: to pass away completely : become destroyed
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